When Ashley Cole left the Premier League for Serie A in the summer, he probably did not expect to be back in England so soon.

But the former England international is back in his native country, as he prepares to help his new club AS Roma progress to the last 16 of the Champions League.

The 33-year-old left-back will be in action for the Italian club on Tuesday when they take on English champions Manchester City in a Group E clash at the Etihad Stadium.

On Tuesday, Cole will face his former Chelsea teammate Frank Lampard, who was also released by the London club at the end of last season. The 36-year-old is actually on the books of New York City FC, but is on loan at City until January.

Cole is looking forward to playing against him as well as his ex-England international teammate Joe Hart on Tuesday.

#Cole: "The whole world knows what a good team Man City are: they have world-famous players" #CityvRoma

The match between City and Roma at the Etihad promises to be very exciting. While Manuel Pellegrini’s side lost their opening Group E game 1-0 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena earlier this month, the Giallorossi hammered CSKA Moscow 5-1 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

If City lost on Tuesday, then they could well be on their way out of the Champions League this season.

Subhankar Mondal

A football journalist based in Wakefield, Subhankar Mondal has previously worked for Goal.com International and Skysports.com, and has had his sports articles published in The Guardian and The Observer. He has also been on the BBC in the past and his name once found its way to the pages of the World Soccer magazine. He was recently cited in a major Louis van Gaal biography.